| Rugged Non-League Slate, Early HL Start Looms For Guins in 2006-07 |
| Monday, July 17 2006 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- In his second season with the Youngstown State program, Head Coach Jerry Slocum has created a rugged start to the 2006-07 campaign by playing two contests against members of the Big Ten Conference and participating in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic all in preparation for the earliest Horizon League start since the program joined the conference. YSU is set to play contests at Michigan and at Ohio State within a three-day span and opens Horizon League play on Saturday, Dec. 2 at UIC. Prior to the contest with the Flames, YSU is guaranteed seven games in November. The previous high for the month was five contests which occurred during the 2000-01 season. At home in 2006-07, YSU entertains Canisius, Akron, Slippery Rock and Lock Haven in non-league play, and will play host to the BracketBuster event once again on Saturday, Feb. 17. The slate tips off with the earliest overall start in school history on Wednesday, Nov. 8, when the Penguins play Central Michigan in the opening game of the Michigan State regional of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. YSU has played the Chippewas four times previously with the last meeting on Dec. 22, 1989. The other matchup pits Michigan State against Brown. The Penguins have never faced the Spartans or Bears on the hardwood. The winner of the MSU Regional advances to the tournament's Final Four held on Nov. 16-17 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Following the two contests in East Lansing, the Penguins head to Duquesne to face the Dukes on Monday, Nov. 13. It will be the third time in four years the teams have played. YSU won 72-51 last year at the Beeghly Center. The home opener is set for Sunday, Nov. 19 versus Slippery Rock. YSU and The Rock have played every year since the 1997-98 campaign. Then the Guins hit the road again for contests at Michigan (Wednesday, Nov. 22) and at Ohio State (Friday, Nov. 24). Last year the Wolverines advanced to the NIT Championship Game while the Buckeyes won the regular-season Big Ten title before reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The contest against the Buckeyes will be played at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus. The Penguins last played Michigan on Dec. 21, 1989 and previously played OSU on Dec. 1, 1990. It marks the first time in 15 seasons (since 1990-91) that YSU has played two Big Ten schools in the same year. YSU concludes a busy first month of the campaign by playing host to Canisius on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The contest is a rematch created from last year's BracketBuster matchup. It marks the first-time ever that the Golden Griffins visit Youngstown for a basketball game. Horizon League play starts with a bang as YSU visits UIC on Saturday, Dec. 2. In their first five seasons in the league, the Penguins' earliest opener had been Dec. 18 (twice). Following a quick trip home to play host to Lock Haven in a Wednesday mid-week game, YSU resumes HL play with a contest at defending league champion UW-Milwaukee (Dec. 9). The Penguins step out of conference action for three straight road games. The three-game road swing features a Dec. 16 contest at Robert Morris, a Dec. 19 trip to James Madison and a Dec. 22 tilt at Kent State. YSU last played RMU on Dec. 19, 2001, has never been to JMU and last visited Kent on Dec. 6, 2000. The first league home game of the season is Saturday, Dec. 30 against Loyola. On Jan. 2, Akron is set to visit the Beeghly Center for the first time since Dec. 10, 1994. Although not playing one another in the building for the past 11 years, this will mark the 24th contest between the programs at the Beeghly Center. That makes the Zips the most commonly played opponent in Beeghly since the facility opened in December 1972. After the Akron game, YSU hunkers down for the meat of the Horizon schedule and a busy month of January. The Penguins play at Detroit (Jan. 6), play host to UW-Green Bay (Jan. 11) and UW-Milwaukee (Jan. 13), visit Butler (Jan. 17), host Cleveland State (Jan. 20), head to Wright State (Jan. 24) and Loyola (Jan. 29) before finishing with the Bulldogs at Beeghly on Jan. 31. February's home league slate includes UIC (Feb. 3), Detroit (Feb. 14) and Wright State (Feb. 22) while the road games are against UW-Green Bay (Feb. 8) and Cleveland State (Feb. 24). This season, the Guins have been selected to play host to an ESPN BracketBuster game on Saturday, Feb. 17. The opponent for the game is announced in late January while a certain number of games will be televised by the network. YSU plays a total of six games in February. Times for all contests will be announced at a later date. All totaled, YSU is scheduled to play a minimum of 29 regular-season games. Wed. Nov. 8 vs. Central Michigan^ East Lansing, Mich. TBA Thurs. Nov. 9 at Michigan State/Brown^ East Lansing, Mich. TBA Mon. Nov. 13 at Duquesne Pittsburgh, Pa. TBA Thurs. Nov. 16 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Semifinals New York, N.Y. TBA Fri. Nov. 17 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Championship New York, N.Y. TBA Sun. Nov. 19 SLIPPERY ROCK Beeghly Center TBA Wed. Nov. 22 at Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich. 7 p.m. Fri. Nov. 24 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA Tues. Nov. 28 CANISIUS Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Dec. 2 at UIC* Chicago, Ill. TBA Tues. Dec. 5 LOCK HAVEN Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Dec. 9 at UW-Milwaukee* Milwaukee, Wis. TBA Sat. Dec. 16 at Robert Morris Moon Township, Pa. TBA Tues. Dec. 19 at James Madison Harrisonburg, Va. TBA Fri. Dec. 22 at Kent State Kent, Ohio TBA Sat. Dec. 30 LOYOLA* Beeghly Center TBA Tues. Jan. 2 AKRON Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Jan. 6 at Detroit* Detroit, Mich. TBA Thurs. Jan. 11 UW-GREEN BAY* Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Jan. 13 UW-MILWAUKEE* Beeghly Center TBA Wed. Jan. 17 at Butler* Indianapolis, Ind. TBA Sat. Jan. 20 CLEVELAND STATE* Beeghly Center TBA Wed. Jan. 24 at Wright State* Dayton, Ohio TBA Mon. Jan. 29 at Loyola* Chicago, Ill. TBA Wed. Jan. 31 BUTLER* Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Feb. 3 UIC* Beeghly Center TBA Thurs. Feb. 8 at UW-Green Bay* Green Bay, Wis. TBA Wed. Feb. 14 DETROIT* Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Feb. 17 BRACKETBUSTER MATCHUP Beeghly Center TBA Thurs. Feb. 22 WRIGHT STATE* Beeghly Center TBA Sat. Feb. 24 at Cleveland State* Cleveland, Ohio TBA |